Mullion arrangement



June 13, 1961 E. c. HALLOCK MULLION ARRANGEMENT 2 Sheets-Sheet. 2

Original Filed March 30, 1955 /Nl/EN TOR EDWARD C. HALL. OCK

ATTORNEY Unite States atent O F 2,988,183 MULLION ARRANGEMENT Edward C.Hallock, Summit, N.J., assignor to 'C0nstruction Specialties, Inc.,Newark, N.J., a corporation of New Jersey This invention relates toimprovements in building structures and more particularly to improvedmeans for mounting and supporting improved louvers to serve asornamental and functional covers for ventilating openlugs and the likein industrial, commercial and residential types of buildings. Thisapplication is a continuation of application Serial No. 497,895, filedMarch 30, 1955, now abandoned.

Louvers have been used for many years for protecting ventilatingopenings, roof vent cupolas and the'like against the entry of rain, heatand sunlight and their utility for this purpose is widely recognized.Usually, such ventilating louvers are formed of wood slats joinedtogether as structural units in all except the smaller sizes of suchlouvers, which may be formed of metal for use as attic ventilators andthe like.

Recently, the utility and attractive appearance of louvers has becomemore widely appreciated and prefabricated louver elements have been madein many different sizes from glass, rolled or stamped sheet steel,extruded aluminum and the like. The glass louvers are used primarily forrelatively small installations, such as, for example, sun porches,residential windows and the like. The larger metal louvers have comeinto use in industrial and cities buildings not only for functionalpurposes, such as, for example, covering the intakes and efiausts forair conditioning and ventilating units, but also for ornamental purposesin which the straight lines of the louvers harmonize with the straightlines of the more advanced and modern types of buildings.

The construction of louvers of large area has encountered practicaldifliculties which have somewhat limited their size and greatlyincreased their cost. While louver blades of almost any desired lengthcan be formed from aluminum and aluminum alloys by extrusion and theycan be formed from other metals, such as stainless steel and the like,by rolling operations, such long louver blades are difiicult to supportin such a manner that they will not sag or warp. Moreover, the metalsused in the louvers usually have an. appreciably greater coefficient ofthermal expansion than the building structures in which they areinstalled so that temperature variations may cause them to pull awayfrom or buckle relative to the building structure. The structuresheretofore provided for supporting the louvers are complicated andexpensive, and, even so, have not completely overcome the difficultiesset forth above.

It is, accordingly, an object of the present invention to make simplerand more efiicient support means for louvers of the type employing longmetal louver blades and more particularly to provide a strong, efficientcombination of expansion mullions and flanged louvers.

The present invention relates to improved supports for louvers forbuilding structures, these supports enabling sections or groups oflouvers to be assembled in such a manner that sagging of the louvers isreduced to a minimum and, at the same time, enabling relative expansionand contraction without danger of buckling or of pulling the louversloose from the building structure.

More particularly, in an exemplary embodiment of the invention, theimproved supporting structure includes a multi-part mullion havingchannel-like side pieces or plates in which the ends of a series offlanged louver Patented June E13, 1961 blades are received and supportedand including a member or members making slidable joints between thechannel-like plates which enable them to move toward and away from eachother in response to expansion and contraction of the louver blades.Moreover, great strength is imparted to the combination by the flangeson the louvers contacting the flanges on the supporting plates.

The above-described mullion construction may be formed of the same kindof material as the louvers or a difierent material. Most desirably, itis formed of extruded aluminum or aluminum alloy sections which may begiven a bright or oxidized finish or lacquered or otherwise treated tomatch or contrast with the louver blades. The provision of suchindependent mullion structures enables groups of louvers to be assembledin end-to-end relation, at right or other angles to each other, or to beassembled in approximately curved or zig-zag relation, for example, informing dormer or bay-type louver assemblies on a building.

For a better undertsanding of the present invention, reference may bemade to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view, partly in section and partly broken away,of an expansion mullion and flanged louver combination in accordancewith the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view, partly in cross-section and partly broken away,of a portion of the mullion and louvers shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of one of the connecting elements of the mullionfor allowing expansion and contraction thereof;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of an assembly of a plurality of groups of louversjoined by expansion mullions of this invention in such a manner as toprovide a substantially curved structure;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a modified form of connecting member for anexpansion mullion;

FIG. 6 is a plan view, partly in cross section and partly broken away,of a corner of a building structure including angularly related groupsof louvers joined by expansion mullions embodying the present.invention; and

FIG. 7 is a plan view, partly in cross section and partly broken away,of a portion of a building structure illustrating the use of expansionmullions in accordance with the invention for joining groups of louversto a vertical beam.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows, by way ofexample for illustrative purposes, a structural combination 9 inaccordance with the invention comprising an expansion mullion 15 andflanged louver blades 10 arranged in groups 10A and 10B on respectivelyopposite sides of the mullion.

The louver blades 10 are formed preferably of metal, such as, forexample, rolled sheet steel or an extruded aluminum alloy, which aresuitably reinforced to impart the necessary strength. More specifically,each of the louver blades 10 may consist of extruded aluminum oraluminum alloy strips having reinforcing beads 11 and 12 formed on itsback surface and having angularly formed edge portions or flanges 13 and14 thereon. The flanges 13 and 14 may be of right-angular or L-shapedcross-section and are joined to the lateral edges of the blade, orshaped as a part thereof, so that their outer flanges are parallel. Theflanges add both strength and appearance to the louvers. Moreover, thetop flange 14 gives some protection to the louvers from rain water. Asthe louver blades v10 may be extruded or rolled elements, they can beformed in any length satisfying the requirements of the buildingstructure. However, when used with mullion 15 of the type describedhereinafter, the louver blades 10 will, in a typical installation, be

about five feet long and their width will be suitable for imparting thedesired appearance and form to the louvers and to assure proper shadingand resistance to penetration by rain, without substantial diminution ofthe ventilating characteristics of the structure in which the louver isused.

Because of the louver blades 16 are preferably formed of a metal such asaluminum or an alloy thereof, they can expand and contract lengthwise avery substantial amount due to the extreme ranges of temperaturesnormally encountered throughout the country. Thus, the louvers may besubjected to temperatures below F. and above 100 F. when used in theNorth Temperate Zone. Such a wide range of temperatures presentsdifficulties in mounting the louvers so that they are rigid and do notvibrate when subjected to strong winds or pull loose as they contract orbuckle as they expand. The mullion for the louver blades 10 overcomesthe above-mentioned difliculties.

The outer ends of the one group of louver blades ltlA are fixed, forexample, to a suitable frame fitting in the opening in the buildingwall. The adjacent inner ends of this group of louver blades 10A arejoined to a suitable channel-like plate 16, which forms a side member ofthe expansion mullion 15. The end edges 18 of the louver blades in abutand are secured to the channellike member 16 in the usual way as bywelding, bolts or sheet metal screws. The plate 16 has right-angularlyarranged flanges 19 and 20 which engage the parallel outer surfaces ofthe right-angle flanges 13 and'14. The ends of the louver blades in thegroup 10A are secured to the flanged plate 16 so that the latter moveswith the blades as they expand and contract in response to thevariations in temperature.

Other blades 10 of an adjacent group of louver blades 10B are joined ina similar manner to a flanged plate or channel 21 forming the oppositeside of the mullion 15. The plates 16 and 21 are identical or mirrorimages. In order to avoid flexing and to impart strength and rigidity tothe flanged plates 16 and 21, they may be provided with reinforcing ribs22 and 23, respectively, which may be secured to or formed duringextrusion of the plates. The presence of the ribs 22 and 23 preventstwisting or appreciable buckling of the plates.

Inasmuch as the plates 16 and 21 must move toward and away from eachother during expansion and contraction of the groups of louvers, meansis provided to permit such movement while firmly supporting the louversand preventing leakage of wind or rain between them. As shown in FIGS.1, 2 and 3, this connecting means comprises one or more members 17formed of metal, such as extruded aluminum or an aluminum alloy, each ofthese members 37 being of generally Hshaped crosssection and ha ingspaced apart members 26 and 27 connected by means of a neck 24 to formoppositely facing grooves 29 and 34? therein parallel to the outersurface of the strip. Grooves 29 and 30 receive the opposed flanges 31and 32 located at opposite edges of the flanged plates 16 and 2 1. Theflanges 31 and 32 are received slidably in the grooves 29 and 30 so thatthe flanged plates 16 and 21 can move toward and away from each other.Preferably, the flanges 31 and 32 are set back from the outer surfacesof the flanges 19 and 20, for example, so that the outer surface 25 ofeach member 17 is substantially flush with the outer surfaces of anadjacent pair of flanges 19 or 2th.

In-order to prevent leakage between the flanges 31 and 32 and the strips17, strips 34 and 35 of compressible packing material or caulkingcompound are mounted in the bottoms of the grooves 29 and 30 in positionto engage the edges of the flanges 31 and 32, as best shown in FIG. 2.

It will be understood that mullions 15 may be provided at intervalsalong a very long opening covered or protected by such louvers. Due tothe rigidity of the .mullions in a vertical direction, they provide thenecessary 4 support for the louvers to hold them against appreciablesagging while, at the same time, enabling them to expand and contractfreely. The expansion mullions 15 also enable groups of louvers to bejoined together to form the corners of building structures or to formbowed or substantially curved louver sections.

As shown in FIG. 4, a plurality of groups of louvers A, 40B, 40C and 49D(similar to the groups 10A and 10B in FIG. 1) are joined by a series ofmullions 41A, 41B and 41C, each of which is like the expansion mullion15 described above. The sliding connection between the flanged plates 42and 43 of a mullion 41A, B or C and the connecting member 17 allows theflanged plates 42 and 43 to be disposed at a slight angle to each otherthereby enabling the groups of louvers 46A, 40B, 40C and 46D also to bearranged at angles to each other and form the outer surface of apolygonal figure or an ap proximately curved outer surface. Despite theangular relation of the flanged plates 42, 43, the connecting members 17permit the louvers to expand and contract without binding.

Different effects from the standpoint of ornamentation can be obtainedby varying the sizes of the connector plates 17. As shown in FIG. 5, aconnecting member 50 may be made of substantially greater width than thewidth of any of the connecting members 17 described above, so that themullion can be made relatively wider and thus maintained in properproportion to louver installations of relatively great length andheight. Moreover, such wide connecting strips 50 are useful inconnecting louver sections to vertical beams present in a buildingstructure. As shown in FIG. 7, the connecting strip 50 may be screwed orotherwise connected to a vertical structural beam 51 and the slots 52and 53 positioned to receive the opposed flanges 54 and 55 of theflanged plates 16 and 21, respectively. In this modification, if thebeam 51 is of greater thickness than the distance between the flanges ofthe flanged plates 16 and 21, the connecting flanges corresponding tothe flanges 54 and 55 can be omitted from the opposite edges of theflanged plates or sawed therefrom prior to installation of the louversto avoid interference between the beam and the plates.

Expansion mullions of the type described above may also be used forjoining groups of louvers at an angle to form. the corners of buildingsor corner louver assemblies. As shown in FIG. 6, groups of louvers A and60B are joined to the outer flanged plates 61 and 62 of expansionmullions somewhat similar to the mullions 15 described above. An innercorner mullion member joins connecting members 63 and 64 and it may besecured to a structural element such as a beam 66 extending verticallyat the corner of the building structure. An outer corner mullion member67 joins the outer connecting members 68 and 69 for the full height ofthe louver. In this Way, a continuous sheath may be formed around theoutside of the beam 66 thereby forming a continuous metal louverconnecting structure which enables expansion and contraction of thelouver sections 66A and 60B, without applying the stresses produced bymuch expansion and contraction to the beam 66.

From the preceding description of typical louver and mullionconstructions, it will be apparent that the new expansion mullion may beused in many different locations in the building structure and itenables louvers to be assembled in long, flat units, to form curvedwalls, corners and reentrant recesses in the sides, roofs or ventilatingpenthouses of buildings of commercial, industrial and residential types.It will also be apparent that improved and easier erection will beprovided by the use of this invention. Successive units will sliptogether making unnecessary the use of bolted or screwed-on mullioncovers.

Inasmuch as the louver and mullion constructions described herein aresusceptible to a wide variety of uses and have the ability to beassembled in many different relations, the forms of the inventiondescribed herein should be considered as illustrative of the inventionand not as imposing limitations on the claim.

What is claimed is:

In combination, a pair of vertically-disposed parallel plates of metal,each plate having a first pair of parallel, vertically-disposed, metalend flanges projecting toward the other plate and a second pair ofparallel, verticallydisposed, metal end flanges projecting away from theother plate, two sets of metal louvers each of which has a long flatsurface slanted downwardly from rear to front and the louvers in eachset being fixedly supported in spaced, parallel, relation one aboveanother from the parallel plates in such a way that each plate supportsone end of each louver in a set, supporting means for the other end ofeach louver in each set, each of said louvers being of such length thattemperature changes in the surrounding atmosphere make appreciablevariations in the distance between the ends thereof, each louver havinga front flange projecting downwardly and then inwardly and a rear flangeprojecting upwardly and then inwardly, the upwardly and downwardlyprojecting portions of said rear and front flanges, respectively, beingparallel to and making engagement with the respective ones of said second pair of flanges of the plate from which the louver is supported, andloose coupling means between the flanges of the first pair of one plateand the flanges of the first pair of the other plate for permitting saidparallel plates to move toward and away from each other as the louversexpand and contract with temperature changes and thus move the plates towhich the louvers are attached, said coupling means comprising a pair ofgenerally H-shaped metallic members each having oppositely facinggrooves parallel to, and receiving slidably and making tongueand-groovecontact with, a pair of oppositely positioned flanges, one from each ofsaid plates.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,001,147 Kane Aug. 22, 1911 2,120,060 Williams June 7, 1938 2,272,310Peirson Feb. 10, 1942 2,397,458 Allen Apr. 2, 1946 2,621,765 Wood Dec.16, 1952

